2026 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol

The competition format for this season will consist of two tournaments (Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura) each with five stages. In the first stage, the thirty teams were divided into two groups of fifteen teams each and will play in a single round-robin format. Additionally, each team will play two inter-zone matches: against its rival from the other zone, and the second against a second team, determined by a draw. The top eight teams in each group will advance to the round of 16. The final stages (round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) will be played on a single-leg basis. The winners of the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura will qualify for the 2027 Copa Libertadores as Argentina 1 and Argentina 2, respectively. Qualification for international tournaments will be determined by the overall standings of the 2026 Primera División. A new league title, "Campeón de Liga", was created for the team with the most points in the aggregate table. Although the title was established at the end of 2025, it was awarded retroactively to Rosario Central that same year. This season, two teams will be relegated to the Primera Nacional. One team will be relegated based on coefficients, and the team that finishes last in the 2026 aggregate table will also be relegated. ==Club information==

Stadia and locations Personnel and sponsoring Managerial changes Interim managers :1. Daniel Jiménez and Bruno Martelotto were interim managers in the Torneo Apertura 3rd–4th rounds. :2. Lucas Bernardi was interim manager in the Torneo Apertura 7th round. :3. Ramiro González was interim manager in the Torneo Apertura 8th round. :4. Marcelo Escudero was interim manager in the Torneo Apertura 8th round. :5. Interim manager until the end of the Torneo Apertura. :6. Alan Capobianco was interim manager in the 2026 Copa Argentina round of 64. :7. Facundo Oreja was interim manager in the Torneo Apertura 12th round. Foreign players Players holding Argentinian dual nationality They do not take up a foreign slot. • Ezequiel Ham (Atlético Tucumán) • Lucas Román (Atlético Tucumán) • Ignacio Abraham (Banfield) • Tomás Adoryán (Banfield) • Thomas Rodríguez (Banfield) • Norberto Briasco (Barracas Central) • Lucas Zelarayán (Belgrano) • Williams Alarcón (Boca Juniors) • Miguel Merentiel (Boca Juniors) • Juan José Cardozo (Central Córdoba (SdE)) • Emiliano Amor (Defensa y Justicia) • David Martínez (Defensa y Justicia) • Antony Alonso (Deportivo Riestra) • Santiago Arzamendia (Estudiantes (LP)) • Fernando Muslera (Estudiantes (LP)) • Tiago Palacios (Estudiantes (LP)) • Javier Ferreira (Estudiantes (RC)) • Pablo Aguiar (Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)) • Tobías Cervera (Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)) • Agustín Módica (Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)) • Lucas Blondel (Huracán) • Hernán Galíndez (Huracán) • Leonardo Gil (Huracán) • Luciano Cabral (Independiente) • Lautaro Millán (Independiente) • Gabriel Arias (Newell's Old Boys) • Thiago Gigena (Newell's Old Boys) • Armando Méndez (Newell's Old Boys) • Matko Miljevic (Racing) • Paulo Díaz (River Plate) • Agustín Sández (Rosario Central) • Leonardo Sosa (Rosario Central) • Javier Burrai (Sarmiento (J)) • Bruno Barticciotto (Talleres (C)) • Matías Catalán (Talleres (C)) • Ulises Ortegoza (Talleres (C)) • Jalil Elías (Tigre) • Marco Rivas (Tigre) • Leo Cristaldo (Vélez Sarsfield) • Imanol Machuca (Vélez Sarsfield) Source: AFA :a. Following an investigation by FIFA into document falsification by the Football Association of Malaysia, Machuca was suspended from professional football for one year on 26 September 2025. However, on 26 January 2026, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) provisionally lifted the ban, enabling Machuca to play for Vélez Sarsfield until 5 March 2026, when the CAS confirmed the one-year suspension. ==Draw==

The draw for the group stages was held on 10 December 2025, 12:00, at the AFA Futsal Stadium in Ezeiza. The 30 teams were divided into two groups of fifteen, with one team from each of the interzonal matches. ==Torneo Apertura==

The 2026 Torneo Apertura (officially the Torneo Apertura Mercado Libre 2026 for sponsorship reasons) is the first tournament of the 2026 season. It began on 22 January and will end on 24 May 2026. Group stage In the group stage, each group will be played on a single round-robin basis. In addition, each team will play two inter-zone matches: the first against its rival from the other zone, and the second, in the sixth round, against a second team determined by a draw. Teams will be ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Head-to-head results; 5. Fair play ranking; 6. Draw. Zone A Zone B Interzonal matches Final stages Starting from the round of 16, the teams will play a single-elimination tournament on a single-leg basis with the following rules: • In the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, the higher seed will be the host team. However, the final will be played at a neutral venue. • If tied, extra time will be played. If the score is still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the champions. Bracket Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final Statistics Top goalscorers Source: AFA Top assists Source: AFA ==Torneo Clausura==

The 2026 Torneo Clausura (officially the Torneo Clausura Mercado Libre 2026 for sponsorship reasons) will be the second tournament of the 2026 season. It will begin on 26 July and will end on 13 December 2026. Group stage In the group stage, each group will be played on a single round-robin basis. In addition, each team will play two inter-zone matches: the first against its rival from the other zone, and the second, in the sixth round, against a second team determined by a draw. Teams will be ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Head-to-head results; 5. Fair play ranking; 6. Draw. The top eight teams of each group will advance to the round of 16. Teams in relegation or in the relegation play-offs will not be eligible to play in the final stages. Standings Zone A Zone B Results In the group stage, teams will play every other team in their group once (either home or away), plus two interzonal games, for a total of 16 rounds. Zone A Zone B Interzonal matches Final stages Starting from the round of 16, the teams will play a single-elimination tournament on a single-leg basis with the following rules: • In the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, the higher seed will be the host team. However, the final will be played at a neutral venue. • If tied, extra time will be played. If the score is still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the champions. Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final ==Aggregate table==

International qualification The 2026 Torneo Apertura champions, 2026 Torneo Clausura champions and 2026 Copa Argentina champions will earn a berth to the 2027 Copa Libertadores. The remaining berths to the 2027 Copa Libertadores as well as the ones to the 2027 Copa Sudamericana will be determined by an aggregate table from the group stages of the 2026 Torneo Apertura and 2026 Torneo Clausura. The top three teams in the aggregate table not already qualified for any international tournament will qualify for the Copa Libertadores, while the next six teams will qualify for the Copa Sudamericana. Relegation In this season, the bottom team of the aggregate table will be relegated to the 2027 Primera Nacional. If two or more teams are level on points, extra matches will be played to decide which team would be relegated. Campeón de Liga The team with the most points in the aggregate table will be awarded the league title of "Campeón de Liga". ==Relegation based on coefficients==

In addition to the relegation based on the aggregate table, one team will be relegated at the end of the season based on coefficients, which will take into consideration the points obtained by the clubs during the present season (aggregate table points) and the two previous seasons (only seasons at the top flight will be counted). The total tally will be then divided by the number of games played in the top flight over those three seasons, and an average will be calculated. The team with the worst average at the end of the season will be relegated to Primera Nacional. Source: AFA ==See also==